Unsustainable: Public School Teachers Make Twice the Private Sector Average

Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | December 15, 2011 | Rush Limbaugh

[Kaslin]

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: According to a new study from the Bureau of Labor statics, public school teachers are now the highest paid state workers. Public school teachers. In fact, public school teachers receive more than twice as much in average hourly wages and benefits as workers in private industry, on average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Public school teachers "are paid an average of $56.59 per hour in combined wages and benefits," which is twice the $28.24 an hour in wages and benefits paid to workers in the private sector.

Now, some of you are probably saying, "I don't understand, Rush. Why are you upset about that? I mean, I've heard you say that you're all for everybody doing well. I've heard you say you're all for everybody being as wealthy as they can get. Have you changed your mind, Rush?" No, I haven't. The problem with this is -- and I will say it again -- is that the people who earn $28 an hour on average are the ones paying the people making twice that. And we're not talking about evil CEOs. We're talking about these teachers' neighbors. With public school teachers we're also talking about a protected class of people. Whether you want to believe me or not, a sizeable portion of Obama's stimulus was earmarked for states to keep public employees on the job.

A sizeable portion of the stimulus was to make sure that teachers and other public sector employees did not lose their jobs. It wasn't out of compassion. It was pure politics. Every one of those teachers and every one of those public sector employees is a union member, and as such they have dues deducted from what they're paid, and those dues, as we know, all end up back in the coffers of the Democrat Party. And that is why the stimulus was structured so that public sector employees state to state would not be laid off. So the people who are earning on average $28 an hour are paying public sector workers $56 an hour on average, with the largest pay being for teachers. That can't go on. In any formal structure, that is not sustainable. I give you Wisconsin. And there will be other states. I give you the city of Detroit.

This kind of thing just can't go on. And that $56.59, don't forget, this includes pensions, lifetime health care that the people whose taxes pay these salaries are not given. They don't have lifetime pensions. They don't have lifetime health care benefits. They have to find that on their own. Now, while they have to pay for their own, they're also paying for the public sector union employees. So that's why it's just a little unfair, I guess -- let me throw that word in -- I like using that word. It's unfair. Well, the left likes to always tell us how unfair things are. This is the epitome of unfairness.

Now, let me add one more thing to this. In addition to public school teachers now being the highest-paid state workers at an average of 56 bucks an hour, according to the study by the Center on Education Policy -- which a nonpartisan think tank -- this year, "a record number of public schools failed to meet the adequate yearly progress benchmarks established by the No Child Left Behind Act." Forty-eight percent. For those of you in Rio Linda, it's almost half: 48% of all public schools in the country failed to meet the No Child Left Behind standards for reading and math proficiency.

So while teachers are making more than they have ever made with lifetime pensions and health care paid for by people who earn half what they earn, their job performance across the board on average -- on balance -- does not warrant this, in a merit sense. Amazingly (ahem), amazingly, Washington's public schools are ranked near the bottom. Eighty-seven percent -- 87% -- failed to meet the No Child Left Behind standards. In reading and writing and math, 87% of the students failed -- and we're not talking about standards that require you to be Mensa, here. Basically all you have to do is know how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich by being able to read "peanut butter" and "jelly" on the various labels.

Only Missouri, my home state can be did worse than Washington. That's right. Eighty-eight percent of Missouri schools are failing. You got me. Eighty-eight percent of public schools in Missouri are failing the No Child Left Behind standards, "even though, according to the Census Bureau figures in 2009, Washington is second only to New York in the amount they spend per student. New York spends $18,000 per pupil. Washington spends $16,000." I don't know what Missouri spends. New York: $18,000 per student; Washington: 16,000, and they're near the bottom in student performance. So we know it's not a problem of money. But yet remember now, item number one: Teachers earn twice on average what the people paying them via their taxes in the private sector are earning.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: By the way, by the way, that story I just had on the schools and how the students there are faring according to the No Child Left Behind stashing, that doesn't account for all the cheating that went on, for example, in Atlanta. For ten years, remember all the phony grades that were awarded by the teachers, or the waivers from the No Child Left Behind standards. It's pathetic! The state of public education is pathetic. I don't mean this as an attack on the individuals in it from the standpoint of teachers. I'm just telling you: The whole education system has been corrupted by liberalism. It's not even an education system anymore. It is an indoctrination, a series of indoctrination camps. It's not education. It's been totally taken care of and corrupted. I know so many teachers are activists, maybe more than I'd like to believe. They are legitimate liberal activists, disguised as teachers. But it is why so much insanity exists. It's why there's so little knowledge of the point of and the beauty of free markets.

It's a concept not even taught.

END TRANSCRIPT

[kearnyirish2]

Toll booth operators don’t work 6 hours a day, 180 days per year - and their jobs are being phased out anyway. None of our janitors earn $80K, either - and there are a lot less of them. In NJ every municipality has an “education industry” cabal with a chokehold on the people they “serve”, and it has very telling consequences - it is one reason why NJ’s housing market will take years longer than other states’ to recover. It is hard to sell an average home with annual property taxes of $8K+ ($7K of which goes to public schools - whether or not you are a “consumer”). There was a reason Christie had to take on teachers; the flight of taxpayers (individual & corporate) couldn’t be ignored.

[Smokin' Joe]

The equivalent private sector job for a teacher in a public school would be a teacher in a private or parochial school. You know, those schools which have to actually convince their customers to pay tuition when they are already paying property taxes for a free public education.

It didn't take much convincing. My grandkids (3) are going to parochial school, for under 5 grand a year (I pay for all 3), and get to pray every day and go to church as well as get a quality education, with class sizes of fewer than 20 students.

Yes, I pay for the public schools as well, but for me, the investment in the kids is worth it.

[Smokin' Joe]

I think they deserve every penny they earn what with having to put up with all that they do.

I know that teachers are only part of the equation, but if the results aren't there, they aren't earning their pay. A 48% failure rate doesn't cut it.

[DB]

The NEA earned its reputation around here.

[A_perfect_lady]

I think more parents deserve scorn for the ignorant, lazy, disrespectful, arrogant children they raise. You can’t make a silk purse of a sow’s ear.

[MediaMole]

Look at Wisconsin, there are many teachers earning over $100k and the average compensation is in the $70k range. Also, this is total compensation, figuring in the wages along with pension and insurance. Until the recent reforms, teachers statewide paid nothing out of pocket for their health insurance or pensions.

Here's an example at Nicolet High School, one of the best paying in Wisconsin.

I'm leaving off the full names, but it is in a searchable database here.

Salary for a teacher named Christopher is $78,591, with benefits worth $34,980 for total compensation of $113,571.

A physical education teacher in the Elmbrook district named Mark has salary of $64,555 and benefits worth $30,595 for a total compensation of $95,150.

An elementary school teacher named Rebecca in the Waukesha School district is paid $57,006 in salary and $32,553 benefits for a total of $89,559.

[Vigilanteman]

$5K per year for three kids is one hell of a bargain. I don't know how your parochial school does it.

The average public school tab figures out to be between $8K and $10K per year per student, depending on how it is calculated.

Now, I know the teachers don't get all of that. Bus transportation, buildings, administrators and support crew all take their cut, but they still get plenty compared to their parochial school counterparts.

BTW, I am personally acquainted with a parochial school teacher who took a 40% cut in pay to leave the public school sector. I have no idea if the 40% represents an average salary difference, but she told me the pay cut was worth it to get:

1. Kids actually interested in learning.
   
2. Less bullsh*t in dealing with the administration.
   
3. The right to banish disruptive kids.

Among other perks . . .

[dinodino]

You are exactly right: education starts at home. The government has absolutely no business educating our children! Government schools should be abolished.

Didn’t you ever stop to think about why homeschooled children roll up and smoke their public-schooled counterparts?

With your hysterical defense of government education, you must be a public schoolteacher...

[SkyDancer]

A teacher is not a miracle worker. They teach but if the student just won’t learn or doesn’t want to learn there’s nothing they can do. A standard class is around 30 students. If the class time is forty-five minutes how much individual time do they have for each one? Also, where are the parents? Don’t you think they have a vested interest in making sure their kids know the material as well? Fortunately I was home schooled so I didn’t have that problem. From what I’ve been reading about school curriculum is basically the kids are bored with it all and don’t want to learn. There’s two sides to the story.

[Smokin' Joe]

$5K per year for three kids is one hell of a bargain. I don't know how your parochial school does it.

Dedicated staff, donations, including 30 hours/year of parent time/household doing things which free up teachers to teach. Parental involvement is a big factor.

Kids actually interested in learning. Less bullsh*t in dealing with the administration. The right to banish disruptive kids.

...add in parents with obvious 'skin in the game'.

They care enough that their children get a decent education they are willing to shell out extra for that, and as such they place value on that education.

In that sort of home environment, it is more likely the child will be supervised at home, will learn, will not be a discipline problem, etc.--many of the critical elements missing from public schools, along with the parochial/private emphasis on achievement versus the public school 'crab basket' inertia against it.

It is not strictly a 'teacher' problem--the schools have different worldviews, especially since prayer was forced out of the public schools (prayer which was always optional for those who chose not to--they just did not say them).

[SkyDancer]

You have to ask yourself how do private schools turn out smarter students than public schools and pay their teachers less. It’s a great argument to use.

[Smokin' Joe]

Oh, I have, and there are a few salient differences.

First, parents are involved. When you cut a check each month for little Johnny's or Susie's education, you want your money's worth--so you're willing to make sure they do their homework, understand their lessons, and work hard to achieve even if you don't have the time/means to homeschool.

Second, that willingness to be involved, to sacrifice for the kids, indicates that the students in the private/parochial environment will be pre-screened with a bias toward children who actually have an emphasis placed on education in the home and are not just being dumped at a state-run babysitter. Children are there for a purpose, not just because the law requires them to show up.

Third, discipline can be maintained, and (especially the) Parochial schools are not as distracted with sexual/social (Marxist) themes. Dress codes/uniforms limit the amount of distraction as well.

Fourth: there is, especially in parochial schools, a different standard of decorum and respect, one which begins with either the secular authority of a non-church school and a distinct parental bias toward their child NOT getting in trouble, or which acknowledges the authority of God in the parochial schools and encourages the students to follow His will. Either way, the entire environment can be far more conducive to learning than the public schools because discipline is often based on standards which each child is encouraged to live by (self-imposed), not just live under (externally imposed).

[A_perfect_lady]

Oh, I am definitely a public school teacher, but I’d be happy-happy-happy if more folks would homeschool. Children need the full attention of the adult who is teaching them, not to be one of 33 kids on a conveyor belt that moves them another few feet down the assembly line every time the bell rings. Indeed, any parent who does not homeschool is guilty of profound neglect, and I am only a government-paid babysitter for the legions of abandoned children of selfish parents. My only protest is that you shouldn’t blame the babysitter for how the kids turned out.

[SkyDancer]

In most private schools the kids want to be there so the learning thing is what they want. They’d be crushed if for discipline reasons they’re sent home. In public schools it’s different. They don’t want to be there. They’d rather be at the mall with friends hanging out. It’s the learning environment.

[Smokin' Joe]

It’s the learning environment.

At home and in school. What teacher wouldn't want to teach where students wanted to learn and were not just waiting for the bell?

That leaves the private and parochial schools a good base of teacher applicants who realize there is more to their job than money, and who are willing to sacrifice the public school pay difference in order to work in a more fulfilling workplace.

I went to both public and private schools as a kid. The private (parochial) schools saved me, academically, in just the last two years of High School. Education was definitely emphasized in my home as a child.

I went from race riots to a serene education-focused environment, and admittedly, managed to get an education in both environments, but the public school education wasn't in the three 'R's. Frankly, with the exception of a few other students who were determined to learn all they could (fellow 'curve busters') the students in the public schools were ripped off by the crap going on, and politics made sure that incompetent teachers were retained by the public schools at the expense of the students.

Needless to say, the lack of discipline in the public schools at the time was a major factor, and 'social issues' made it difficult, if not impossible to impose.

[xsrdx]

An elementary school teacher named Rebecca in the Waukesha School district is paid $57,006 in salary and $32,553 benefits for a total of $89,559.

Your range of examples explains the $56/hr total avg compensation then, assuming 9 months of work - although I doubt every state compensates teachers as well as Wisconsin does.

[cherry]

I wish people would not forget that teachers work only a partial year....infact, they work about half the year....no weekends..no holidays...no night shifts...no overtime....

their degrees are simplistic...they are in it for the time off, but somehow they also mangaged to get extreme benefits and pensions....

I loved my teachers as a child...we respected them....your parents always took their side no matter what...

but I'm not impressed the last 30 yrs...not at all....a lot of them seem to be silly and shallow...

notice how the teachers are somehow now a group that is just assumed to be UNDER PAID...OVER WORKED...and THEY SPEND ALL THEIR MONEY ON SUPPLIES FOR THEIR CLASSROOMS and THEY DO ALL THAT WORK AT HOME that we don't know about, we stupid fools...

its a major coup for the teachers union that we're supposed to believe all that crap....infact, their pay is SUPERIOR to other similar degrees...IF they buy anything for their classrooms, the national average is about$200....big deal....most of us bring things to our work that we never get reimbursed for...and notice now they get that $250 credit on their taxes.....they can say they work at home long hours but they don't...they actually get days off at school to do their work at home "work"...

what a racket...

[cherry]

nearly all school budgets are salaries and benefits....

either we go back to parachial schools and hope we can get enough nuns to work basically for free OR we must elimiate SOME benefits and pensions and wages...

[SkyDancer]

If you think public education is bad now, just imagine what would happen if they were cut.

[dinodino]

We homeschool, so no problem here...and I completely understand your position!